Friday, January 11, 2013

Texas Budget Surplus Estimated At $8.8 Billion- A Shining Example Of How Conservative Policies Work

Susan Duclos - The fact that a few days ago Texas announced it saw a budget surplus of $8.8 billion
under the conservative leadership of Governor Rick Perry and the
implementation of conservative economic policies, should have received
some attention, but other than a couple very brief mentions in the
mainstream media, not many people saw the news or delved too deeply into
the meaning of it.

Remember how conservatives continue to say that we don't need to raise taxes, we need new tax
payers. In other words, if you put people to work, there are more
paying into the tax system and therefore revenues go up without any
hikes in rates.

The Texas Legislature will
have 12.4 percent more revenue to spend in the next two budget
years thanks to higher-than-expected tax collections boosted by
economic growth, state Comptroller Susan Combs projected on
Monday.

"Texas experienced a very strong rebound from a severe
recession," said Combs, who issued her biennial revenue estimate
a day before the Texas Legislature convenes.

Texas has a two-year budget cycle and lawmakers will craft a
2014-2015 budget during the session, which ends May 27.

Combs forecast revenue of $101.4 billion - which the
comptroller says is 12.4 percent greater than corresponding
funds available for the current budget cycle - including $8.8
billion expected to remain at the end of the 2012-2013 budget
cycle.

The state's general revenue collections are projected to be
$96.2 billion, $3.6 billion of which would be set aside for the
state's rainy-day fund.